In what cold easily be described as prime examples of 1970s weirdness, both the book and the film “The 7-Per-Cent Solution” derive the title not from any type of problem solving, but the amount of cocaine Sherlock Holmes was injecting into himself.

Not quite as low as 7/100ths, the Obama Administration is accepting much less than 100% as acceptable despite Obama’s penchant for consumer-tech analogies, and also that the corporate world has a much higher expectation of excellence, as reported by both The Washington Times and the technology-centric news portal Venture Beat on Nov. 18, 2013

Despite Barack Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebeleus comparing the initial roll out of HealthCare.gov (aka: “ObamaCare”) to “glitches” experienced by other Internet sites where people can comparison-shop for products, the Administration has announced that an 80% success rate for those attempting to log on is to be considered a success.

As White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stated:

I think the way to look at that figure is that of, say, 10 who go on the system, roughly two won’t get through the system.

Carney also stated that the 20% who can’t enroll includes those “who aren’t ‘comfortable’ signing up online or have personal circumstances that are too ‘complex’ to use the website.”

As cited by Venture Beat, seen by many as the world leader in product excellence, Sony Corporation recently introduced the not-exactly-inexpensive PlayStation 4 gaming system.

When questions arose concerning product malfunctions, Sony acknowledged the PS4 console did have certain issues, prompting the industry giant to issue the following statement prior to launch:

The number of affected systems represents less than .04% of shipped units to date, which is within our expectations for a new product introduction.

What Else Is Considered Acceptable…?

The 80% mark has raised the hackles of more than a few of those who frequent internet forums, as well as conservative pundits. Some have queried rhetorically if the low expectations would be acceptable in the following specifics:

• Would a heart patient be comfortable if one out of every five pacemakers didn’t work?
• How would the same heart patient feel if only 80% of the anesthesiologist’s drugs were effective?
• Should an 80% functioning rate of brakes on new cars be acceptable to the American people?
• Would Marines or soldiers accept it if they knew that six random rounds in their M16 magazine’s capacity of 30 were defective?

One question raised that many conservatives are sure would get the Obama Administration’s attention: What is two out of every ten government subsidized condoms were broken?